7. The Big Sick (2017)

"So...to fully know I love someone, I have to cheat on them?" - Kumail
"Out loud, it sounds stupid. Eh, it's... yeah, that's terrible advice." - Terry

In the 2010s the rom-com was largely a dead art form. Sure it still exists in some limited capacities, but after the Apatow films that dominated the late 2000s and early 2010s, the rom-com well was not an inspiring place to go. That is, until Kumail Nanjiani, co-star of Silicon Valley, and his wife Emily V. Gordon penned a screenplay about the remarkable story of how they met.

Revealing too many details would ruin the fun of experiencing the film for the first time, but the story is essentially about Kumail (Nanjiani playing an exaggerated version of himself) and Emily (Zoe Kazan), meeting, dating, and falling for each other, all while Kumail's traditional Pakistani family tries to set him up with a girl within his race.

What bolsters the film up is Nanjiani's witty presence, a sharp script that observes relationships and what makes them function, and plenty of poignant, emotional moments. I'm a big fan of Nanjiani, from his early work in online skits to his wonderful supporting role on Silicon Valley, to his Academy Award-nominated screenplay, co-authored with his wife. Not to mention the direction of Michael Showalter, and fantastic supporting performances by Ray Romano and Holly Hunter that round out the emotional landscape of this film. It's really one of the best times I had at the movies this year; it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me reflect on my own relationship and appreciate, more then ever, what I have.



4th Worst: Serenity (2019)

Serenity came out of nowhere and quickly became film Twitter's most beloved film of January 2019. It's a film you really must experience to fully appreciate the weird twists and turns the plot takes. Starring A-listers like Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane, and Jason Clarke, the film concerns a fishing boat captain chasing a giant Tuna named Justice, which is one of many things that will make sense and will be baffling by film's end. His old flame (Hathaway) finds him and wants to recruit him to murder her current husband (Clarke). I'm not sure what drew all these actors to this terrible script, but suffice to say it contains a twist I dare not spoil and you should really just experience for yourself (it's currently available on Amazon Prime as of the publishing of this post). It's an A-plus experience of an F grade flick.

8. The Social Network (2010)

"We lived on farms, then we lived in cities, and now we're going to live on the internet!" - Sean Parker

Of all the films on this list, most in need of a sequel, The Social Network sits pretty high on my list. So much has happened with Facebook in the past ten years that some of it could be distilled into another equally entertaining, incisive take on our social media culture. When news came out a movie was being made about the founding of Facebook, many of us, myself including, scoffed at the idea. What is there to tell about the founding of Facebook? It's just a place where I post pictures, my thoughts, share these reviews, and see what everyone else in my life is up to.

Yet thanks to the winning combination of Aaron Sorkin's writing and David Fincher's direction, what we receive is a fascinating tale of legal litigations and start-up culture. Chronicling Mark Zuckerberg's life from 2003 to a couple of years later, the film details that ideas that lead to Facebook's inception, and the ensuing legal battles from people who either felt like they owned the idea, or were screwed by the company's public stock options.

All of this is conveyed through razor-sharp, signature Sorkin dialogue, where everyone is either a witty genius with words or an ignoramus who can't operate on the intellectual level of others. Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and Rooney Mara make up part of the terrific cast that round this tale of loneliness out. The Social Network now reminds us of a simpler time in social media, before the President of the United States conveyed his unfiltered thoughts through it, and of the small steps taken that would drastically reshape our culture.

9. Parasite (2019)

"They are rich but still nice." - Ki-taek
"They are nice because they are rich." - Chung-sook

The problem with reflecting on the past decade is that it is hard to accurately measure how much you like a film that recently came out. Most of my list is comprised of films that came out 4 or more years ago, and I fully acknowledge that it is likely because they have had time to stew, to marinate, to grow in favor in my mind.

With all that said, I have no qualms listing this year's Palme d'Or winner, Parasite, as number 9 on my list. One of a few films this year alone that deals with class warfare, Parasite is a delightful, gripping tale of a low-income family in South Korea that slowly infiltrate the various servant roles in an upper-class family they gain access too. The film is a brilliant mash-up of genres, from comedy to drama, to thriller, and everything in between.

Director Bong Joon-Ho brilliantly pulls off this magic act, and as the story takes unexpected twists and turns it arrives at a solemn, yet hopeful coda that the film brilliantly sets up. The film itself is like a magic act, unfolding before your eyes, and you blink and wonder how you didn't notice what was right in front of your eyes. It's a film I highly recommend, and one I feel assured in saying will stand the test of time. I can't wait to give this film another watch and spend more time in the amazing world Bong Joon-Ho has built.



5th Worst: Suicide Squad (2016)

"This is Katana. She's got my back. She can cut all of you in half with one sword stroke, just like mowing the lawn. I would advise not getting killed by her. Her sword traps the souls of its victims." - Rick Flag

Of course, with my best of I will occasionally mention the worst of the decade as well. And for number five, I've deemed Suicide Squad to be one of the very worst films I had the displeasure of viewing this decade. A disaster on almost every level, it's hard to see how this could've been good. The editing certainly doesn't help, as the film sets up "heroes" Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Deadshot (Will Smith), then sets them again two minutes later. The film hamfistedly introduces characters midway through the film with clunky exposition and offs other characters in the blink of an eye. Add in the worst Joker portrayal on the big screen, and you've got the perfect recipe for a big-budget Hollywood disaster.

10. Life Itself (2014)

"In the past 25 years, I have probably seen 10,000 movies and reviewed 6,000 of them. I have forgotten most of them, I hope, but I remember those worth remembering, and they all are on the same shelf in my mind." - Roger Ebert

One of the most important notes of the decade was the loss of Roger Ebert in 2013. A towering figure in film criticism, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who wasn't impressed or inspired by Ebert's film writing. Candid, yet insightful, sharp, yet accessible, Ebert was the kind of writer who championed and revealed little-known films and could eviscerate with barbed, vicious reviews.

The film, directed by Steve James, is not only a loving insight into Ebert's career and how he reshaped our perception of film criticism (some would save even dumbing it down) but a tender portrait of a man at death's door. Filmed in the months leading up to Ebert's passing, we see a man, beaten down by cancer and various treatments that have rendered him speechless, yet one whose passion for writing and expressing himself never wavered.

I include this film among my 10 best because it represents an important moment for me this decade. Ebert's work had a profound effect on me, and I miss his writing to this day (what would he have thought of the MCU? Where would he come down in the Scorsese debate). It is also a wonderfully well-made film; James was clearly a good friend of Eberts, and there are some emotional, raw moments in the film, including Ebert's declining health and rapidly deteriorating state.

Life Itself is a wonderful documentary; it may not be the best of the decade (that would be a list all it's own), but it was the one that resonated with me the most, and one I will be returning too for years to come.

Announcing My Top 10 Films of the Decade (2010s)

Another 10 years has come and gone. And with these 10 years it is customary for us to look back over the decade, over an enormous amount of media that we have collectively consumed, and begin naming the content that most impacted us, that stood the test of time. For me, that media is film, a landscape that has seen a great change in the last 10 years. This decade saw the lion's share of the MCU films, the Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm and the return of Star Wars, and the takeover of endless reboots and remakes. Moviepass appeared like a firestorm, introducing subscription ticketing to movie chains in the US, and revolutionizing our system for the better. It has since died, but in its place we have the AMC A-List and Regal subscription service, which for avid movie goers such as myself have provided a huge money saver.

The 2020s are sure to bring even bigger changes. The rise of Netflix and streaming services have culminated with the big dog themselves, Disney, entering the game. Netflix in the past two years alone has produced some stellar original films from Alfonso Cuaron, Martin Scorsese, and Noah Baumbach, to name a few. The movie theater experience is a fast dying commodity, and while I'm sure they will still be around when we reflect back in 2029, the landscape will have been greatly changed.

It's almost near impossible to compile a list of everything I saw, even more so to narrow that done to only 10 films. But I have taken on the task, and produced a list of films that contain some of the most moving films I saw, the most entertaining, or some where the experience of seeing it for the first time is a moment I'll never forget.

Over the next 10 days I will be publishing one entry in my top 10 with a review of sorts. Additionally, with every odd number on the list, I will be announcing one of my bottom five films of the year. To kick things off however, I will list the 10 films that almost made the cut, but didn't quite. Below, are the 10 runner ups that would round out my top 10, in alphabetical order.

Another Year (2010)
The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Don't Think Twice (2016)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Logan (2017)
A Separation (2011)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Skyfall (2012)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Your Name. (2016)

Maiden (2018)

I've been reviewing the biggest box office blockbusters recently, mostly because I feel like I have something to say about them, and also because they're fairly accessible. With an AMC A-list subscription and three AMC theaters readily in my area, many films require little to no effort to get to.

But what about independent cinema? What about those little films that don't get exposure, that aren't on the top of a lot of peoples' list of films to see in theaters? I've seen my fair share of lesser known films, from Midsommar, Booksmart, The Farewell, and The Art of Self-Defense. But the film I really recommend people see, and one that may be a little tough to access, is Maiden, a documentary about the first all-female crew to sail in the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989.

There's nothing particularly innovative about the way the film is made; plentiful talking head interviews intercut with footage of the race does a serviceable enough job of telling the story. Luckily, these women are expert storytellers, and their interviews are woven together to tell the fascinating tale of how they came together, and especially about their skipper and navigator, Tracy Edwards.

Of course the female crew is met with the usual challenges women face when trying to prove they can equal men. They are ridiculed, they are written off as not being able to even accomplish one leg of the race, and they face challenges including finding the sponsorship to even enter the race. What fragile egos men have; when our masculinity is threatened, we lash out at the very idea that we could be beaten by a gender perceived as weaker, less able.

Times are thankfully changing in that regard, yet witnessing Edwards and her crew's struggles and triumphs is inspiring and moving. It's an incredible story, one that would make one hell of a feature film (or miniseries for that matter), and I highly recommend and encourage everyone to seek out this incredible story for themselves.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

The last time I saw one of these Fast and Furious movies, they still had "the" in the title. The Fast and the Furious (2001) now seems like a laborious title, and thank goodness they stripped unnecessary articles out or else this would've been called The Fast and the Furious Presents: The Hobbs and the Shaw. That first film, one of the most unlikely franchise starters, was about a simple street racing crew, the crimes they committed, and the LAPD officer who infiltrated them and became enamored with their lifestyle.

Now these films have exploded into James Bond-level action thrillers, with globe trotting, sexy women, and of course, fast cars. Hobbs & Shaw combines two characters who, as far as I understand, were introduced into the franchise as antagonists but have since evolved past that point to be heroes in their own spinoff franchise. There's Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), a bald hot head who works alone, and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a bald hothead who works alone. Shaw's mum (a wasted Helen Mirren) is in the slammer, and Hobbs is estranged from his Samoan family, as he carefully outlines for his daughter early on, just so we know there will be some family reconciliation later on.

The plot kicks into gear when Hattie (Vanessa Kirby, playing Shaw's sister despite being 21 years younger than Statham) injects herself with a virus to prevent it from falling into the hands of Brixton (Idris Elba), a superhuman modified by robot parts whose eyes glow orange whenever people attack him to signal his robot brain is detecting the incoming attacks (he describes himself as Black Superman).

Hobbs & Shaw are called onto the case when it appears Hattie has murdered her whole team for the virus, a silly accusation that I feel could've been cleared up if she had reached out for help. She works for MI6 after all. And later Hobbs & Shaw are framed for an attack on CIA agents, although they stand out in the open watching their faces displayed on giant screens to no consequence (not one passersby seems to notice them, despite Hobbs being as incognito as herpes).

Events more or less unfold in a predictable pattern of loud, over the top action scenes followed by character moments that mainly consist of Hobbs & Shaw measuring their dicks (the size of their dicks and balls are mentioned quite endlessly in this film). You see, they don't like each other very much, and spend the majority of their screen time bickering. This is meant to be endearing, the way an old married couple might bicker, but the dialogue is never clever or varied enough to make these scenes funny past the first encounter they have.

The film is directed by David Leitch, who helmed Deadpool 2 (which explains Ryan Reynolds' cameo appearance) and Atomic Blonde, as well as co-directing the first John Wick. As far as action scenes go, he's fairly proficient at staging mayhem to a degree that you can follow what is going on, although just barely. The action scenes are quite unimaginative, and despite having the resources to dream up whatever they want, the film recycles the sports car drifting under a semi-truck stunt I've seen in other Fast and Furious trailers. It isn't until the final action sequence, when four cars latch onto each other to prevent themselves being lifted up by a helicopter, that the film achieves the imaginative lunacy I was hoping for throughout the rest of the film.

Because, let's face it, this is not a subtle movie. When Elba's villain first appears in the film, a character asks who he is, to which he responds, "Don't you know? I'm the bad guy." Kirby's character has a virus in her system that will release itself into her bloodstream in 72 hours, and I'm pretty sure the film spans more than that amount of time. Probably the most egregious error is when the final confrontation starts: at dawn the characters say, yet it's pitch black out. One edit later and suddenly it's so bright out you would think it's midday. "Maybe they are communicating the passage of time and that they've been fighting awhile," I thought but no, a ticking clock element reveals only 9 minutes have passed in the movie's time.

CGI should enhance scenes instead of overpower them. Much of the action is deflated because it's weightless, the characters don't feel the impact of the action, and most of it would be improbable. Compare that to last summer's Mission: Impossible - Fallout which doesn't have the greatest plot, but constructs some thrilling as hell action scenes to hold up its very weighty runtime. It certainly helps that a lot of what you're seeing is also being done.

I guess I wouldn't mind Hobbs & Shaw so much if it were a little shorter. At 135 minutes it is a very long film, and wears you down by the time it's over. What happened to nice, tight films that fell under 100 minutes? Rewatching Men in Black recently in preparation for its sequel I was impressed how economical the film is at setting up its characters and universe, a conflict, and resolving it all.  If Hobbs & Shaw could've met a similar time threshold, I think it would've been a hell of a lot more fun.